Blake Lively has withdrawn two of the claims she made about the actor and director Justin Baldoni, who labored together with her on the 2024 romantic drama It Ends With Us.
It was reported on Tuesday afternoon by Variety that Lewis Liman, the choose who’s who overseeing the lawsuit, has determined that the Lively’s claims for emotional misery could be thrown out.
The two actors have been engaged in a authorized dispute since Lively sued Baldoni in December 2024 following the discharge of the movie based mostly on the bestselling novel by Colleen Hoover. Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment and a public smear marketing campaign.
Baldoni’s authorized workforce reportedly requested Lively to launch her medical data, together with remedy notes, as a part of its protection in opposition to her claims she suffered “severe emotional distress and pain, humiliation, embarrassment, belittlement, frustration and mental anguish”, in response to Variety.
In January, it was reported that Baldoni planned to sue his co-star and her husband, the actor Ryan Reynolds, following the accusations on claims of civil extortion, defamation and invasion of privateness.
Lively has now dropped the claims of intentional infliction of emotional misery and negligent infliction of emotional misery. Though the actor is withdrawing the claims, she is refusing to withdraw the claims with prejudice as Baldoni’s authorized workforce had requested, Variety reported. According to authorized filings by Baldoni’s workforce, Lively is barely prepared to withdraw her claims with out prejudice.
“Ms Lively wants to simultaneously: (a) refuse to disclose the information and documents needed to disprove that she suffered any emotional distress and/or that the Wayfarer Parties were the cause; and (b) maintain the right to re-file her IED claims at an unknown time in this or some other court after the discovery window has closed,” Variety reported a Monday submitting as saying.
Liman stated that Baldoni’s movement to compel is denied “based on the plaintiff’s representation that the relevant claims will be withdrawn”.
Additionally, the choose wrote that “the parties shall stipulate to whether the dismissal is with or without prejudice, or Lively shall renew her request by formal motion. For avoidance of doubt, if the claims are not dismissed, the court will preclude Lively from offering any evidence of emotional distress”.
Esra Hudson and Mike Gottlieb, two of Lively’s legal professionals, referred to as the submitting from Baldoni’s workforce “a press stunt”.
They added in an announcement to the journal: “The Baldoni-Wayfarer strategy of filing retaliatory claims has exposed them to expansive new damages claims under California law, rendering certain of Ms Lively’s original claims no longer necessary. Ms Lively continues to allege emotional distress, as part of numerous other claims in her lawsuit, such as sexual harassment and retaliation, and massive additional compensatory damages on all of her claims.”
In December 2024, the New York Times printed an article entitled ‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine that detailed how Baldoni allegedly utilized his publicists and the media to publicly besmirch Lively’s fame.
Baldoni, publicist Melissa Nathan, and eight different plaintiffs accused the Times of “cherrypicking” details and filed a $250m libel lawsuit in opposition to the paper.
